Travel companies should hold their nerve and maintain prices amid a growing trend of late booking in the UK holiday market.
The ABTA Travel Convention was told in the last year the number of customers booking holidays abroad just one month in advance of their departure had grown by five times.
Tripvision’s Alan Griffith said a year ago just 4.8% of people booked a holiday a month in advance but this had now grown to a almost quarter of holidaymakers.
Only 12.9% of customers booked six months in advance this year, down from 33% last year.
Griffith said tour operators and travel agents need to “hold their nerve” and react to this by avoiding slashing prices in the late market as customers will still make the booking.
Although online bookings are increasingly driving this late market, associate director of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Guy Gillon said agents should diversify into niche markets, especially with customers now demanding increased variety – meaning expert advice was needed more than ever.
“The key point is to understand which holidays are going to become more popular and what type of customers are going to do it,” he said.
“It is imperative you understand the behaviour of your customer and know who you are targeting and who you are not.”
Griffith said this trend is being driven by the rapid expansion in the cruise market, which is predicted to grow by 200% in the next five years.
“If cruising is not already important to your business you should consider how it can be important to it in the future,” he said.
Spa holidays, nature and wildlife watching holidays and snow sports were all predicted to grow over the next five years as customers increasingly demand experiential breaks rather than traditional ‘fly-and-flop’ breaks.